Managing Change and Making it Stick

The Paradoxes of Change

Today's organisations face a wide and growing range of pressures on their ability to perform. These demand a willingness to explore and embrace new capabilities, to adopt new perspectives and to challenge established approaches, if the business is to survive and prosper into the long term. The following paradoxes reflect some of the key lessons from our experience of leading, facilitating and participating in organisational change:

• There's not "one best way" to manage change and . . .there are some common change dynamics which can be identified and addressed.
• It's no good expecting a quick fix and . . .some things will need to be achieved quickly.
• A single technique - such as BPR, TQM, SAP etc is not enough and . . .it's important to avoid 'death by a thousand initiatives'.
• Many of the most important outcomes can't be achieved through top-down management edict and . . .active and effective sponsorship from 'the top' is critical to success.
• It's important to be open and 'up front' about change and . . .recognise that much of the real change takes place in the shadows of the organisation.
• Communication is critical and . . . we need to stop seeing this solely in terms of "getting the message across!"
• Plans for organisational transformation often start with a "blank sheet of paper" and . . . the imprint of past 'writing' continues to shape people's perceptions and interpretations of 'reality' into the future.
• Leaders need to be enthusiastic about the desired changes and . . . accept that there are both downsides to where the organisation is going and upsides to where it has been!
• It's important to build on strength and ... recognise that an organisation's greatest strength can become the source of its downfall.
• The aim is to build coalitions of co-operative effort in support of the desired changes and . . . to welcome challenge and conflict as a source of creativity and learning.
• Organisations want to "keep it simple" and . . . they need to base this simplicity on knowledge of what exists 'on the far side of complexity'.
• Change demands action and ... leaders need to recognise that talk is their primary action tool.
• By virtue of their position, leaders are both 'in control' of change and ... not in control of it!